June 5th late afternoon

[ginevra_dark]

Ginny's heart was still pounding in her chest as she hastily straightened her clothes yet again. Her hand shook as she grabbed a handful of Floo powder. She'd told Fred she'd be there around 3 o'clock; she was a good bit late

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[gredisfred]

Upon reaching the shop Fred had seen that things were well under control on the floor. Subsequently, he had retreated to the back room and ended up attempting to straighten out their storage closet. It was huge, cluttered and not something he generally thought about. The twins usually only resorted to cleaning if there was nothing better to do, if it was to the point where it was actually dangerous, or if one of them needed something physical to keep his mind off of other things. This had clearly been one of the latter cases.

Consequently, when Ginny popped out of the floo he was filthy. His jeans were covered in a combination of dust, gunpowder and tsetse fly wings; he had oil of eel on his shirt and there were several beetle legs clinging stubbornly to his hair. In short, he was a sight. He'd also completely forgotten the whispered comment from the day before when Ginny had said she'd drop by the shop around three. He'd meant to mention it to George, but with one thing and another. Shite! Charlie's right, I am useless at

[ginevra_dark]

Are you okay?

She wasn't sure she could answer that, not honestly. Too much had happened and now she felt as if her thoughts were crowding each other out and in the process becoming confusing and meaningless.

Fred hoisted her up with ease and she stumbled into him as she gained her footing.

"Fine," she said, not able to look him in the eye.

His hand loosened on her arm and she pulled away, realizing that she now had something slick and black clinging to her arm and her shirt.

"What..?" She looked her brother over, taking in his rumpled appearance. "What is all over you?" He was a mess and she temporarily forgot herself as she finally looked at his face. He looked as if someone had died.

Already shaky, her knees gave and she grabbed his hand for support. "What's wrong?" she asked, "What's happened?"

[gredisfred]

Fred instantly put his arm around Ginny when she stumbled, which resulted in his transferring some of his "accessories" to her.

"Blast. I'm sorry, Gin. I've been cleaning out the storeroom and it's just possible," he attempted a grin, "only just, mind you, that I got a bit dirty. Let me grab my wand and I'll see if I can't make us both a bit more respectable."

He led her to the couch in the 'sitting area' of the cavernous room and moved over to retrieve his wand from under a pile of palm fronds and assorted string.

[ginevra_dark]

"I don't give a damn about a little dirt, tell me what's wrong," she said, her voice no longer even. Oh God, was it Bill? Had something happened to him? Or one of the others... Dad, or Charlie? She wasn't sure she could even voice the question.

"Stop," she said, pulling him down on the couch. Christ, he wasn't even looking at her. She wasn't ready to lose any of them and she remembered too well the terror she had felt that night waiting to hear word about Dad. "Has something... is it... is it Bill?" She whispered the last part, her heart in her throat.

[gredisfred]

"George," Fred cried in mock horror, "save me!!"

[forgeisgeorge]

"Bloody hell, Fred! Just go get the brooms already!!"

[gredisfred]

"Then. Get. Off. ME!!!"

[forgeisgeorge]

George finally relented and got off his siblings. He bowed and pointed to where the brooms were currently stored.

"To your treasure, your highness!" George teased Fred as he got up off the couch.